Which way up?

[Peppermint]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/dorset/2979563.stm

Catamaran capsize in Solent. Four people had a bit of a night of it. At least with a cat they float either way up. Gives you something to cling to.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jeanne]

With a self-righting Monohull, they not only have something to cling to, they have something in which to go down below, make a cup of tea, wait till it's all over, and then sail home..

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Jacket]

<Michael Barnes, coastguard operator, said the vessel overturned within seconds, leaving the crew no time to set off flares or reach radio equipment.>

Surely if you have a boat that can capsize you store some flares and a handheld VHF where you can easily reach the whichever way up the boat is? It shouldn't be that hard to lash a waterproof container somewhere accessible.

When sailing dinghies offshore its standard practice to store flares where they can be got at when the boats capsized without having to dive under the boat. Why haven't multihull sailors cottoned on?

(50 and 40 year old men with two 32 year old womwn. No wonder they capsized. probably distracted!)(Opps, non PC. One of the women was probably the skipper)

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jimi]

Distracted .. dunno .. reckon they must have been pretty fat to survive that lot with only mild hypothermia!!!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Jacket]

Unless they thought of some way to keep warm?

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Neal]

But a monohull can sink.....Nm

NM

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Re: But a monohull can sink.....Nm

does anyone know what type of boat she was, the details are very sketchy on the bbc news website.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Homepage</A>

 

[tom52]

Re: But a monohull can sink.....Nm

Don't know what kind of boat it was but the BBC 6 pm news said it was brand new and had just been collected from Southampton and was being sailed to Lymington by its Irish owners

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Re: But a monohull can sink.....Nm

cruising cats should never capsize, they are generallly always under canvased, I am suspecting something else here, what was the weather like. Had they sprung a leak in one of the hulls and continued taking water unoticed then I guess she would go over, but wind alone, not convinced.

This is not good for my insurance, certain companies will not touch cats, unfounded in my opinion.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue> Julian </font color=blue>

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Homepage</A>

 

[tom52]

Re: But a monohull can sink.....Nm

It was bit breezy on the south coast last night but I would not have thought enough to invert a cat.
I was a bit suspicious that it was a 'new' boat.
Maybe an extreme case of teething troubles.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[duncan]

Re: But a monohull can sink.....Nm

despite the weather it is somewhat surprising that no-one spotted them over that period.
One minute it's too busy to swing a cat (sry) next it's empty - funny old world

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[extravert]

Modern multihulls should have a locker or hatch that is accessible from either way up. I thought it was a RCD requirement now for multihulls. Maybe being such a new boat they had not equipped the locker.

I have such a watertight locker. Inside I keep a handheld VHF, half my flares, drinking water, a torch, some mountain survival bags and a multi-tool.

<hr width=100% size=1>Adventures of the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.xrayted.fsnet.co.uk>Teddy Bear Boat</A>

 

[extravert]

This is the normal debate that will never be resolved. Neither mono or multi is better, both are different and require different treatment.

With a multi, staying the right way up is everything.
With a non bouyant mono, watertight integrity is everything.

Got a hole in your multi? Not only will you have something that floats, you'll have something in which to go down below, make a cup of tea, patch it up best you can, and then sail home..

Getting in in perspective...

The weekend brought a multihull capsize with no loss of life and minor injuries. The weekend also brought two marine deaths, both off Wales. A man-over-board near Milford Haven, and a Scoutleader in an inflatable off the Lleyn peninsular.

 

[snowleopard]

oh no, not that one again...

<With a self-righting Monohull, they not only have something to cling to, they have something in which to go down below, make a cup of tea, wait till it's all over, and then sail home.. >

or perhaps it would have filled through the open hatch and sunk!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jamesjermain]

Was anyone struck by the comment by the Coastguard:

"Obviously if nobody has reported anything to us and there are no reports of overdue vessels we can't act. Really, it was the good will of somebody calling from the shore this morning that set the rescue into action," he said.

He did not, of course add: 'From where we are the only water we can see comes from a tap. Those old Coastguard look-out stations were so inefficient'


<hr width=100% size=1>JJ

 

[oldharry]

Re: oh no, not that one again...

I grew to hate the only catamaran I ever owned. And although I was never even able to lift a hull it was so under canvassed (perhaps thats why i disliked it so much), I never felt convinced that it could not be flipped over in extremity. The design claimed that it would remain afloat even if one hull was waterlogged. I now sail monhulls, and feel much safer. At least they come back up if they are knocked down. (We assume of course that the boat is well found, the crew have taken the right precautions etc etc...)

I too am puzzled by this accident. I was beating down channel that night a bit E of the Solent, and although it was a bit lively, we met nothing that would have caused problems to a seagoing cat in the Solent.

On the other hand it was the sort of conditions that can generate waterspouts in the Solent area - and I just wonder if they had the misfortune to meet one?

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Evadne]

Re: But a monohull can sink.....Nm

I don't know what sort it was but the pictures on the news showed a smallish centreboard cat (25 feet?) with dark blue antifouling. If you're going to sail a caapsizable boat, at least paint the bottom a different colour to the sea!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[kgi]

Yes monohulls tend to exhibit there self righting capabilities, have you ever noticed you never see one upside down on the seabed...???.......keith

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[snooks]

More details according Metro

According to Metro. London's free rag

"The two men and two women were thrown in the middle of a busy shipping lane after the £20,000 Antaries of Ashton, which they had bought only the day before, was battered in Force Seven gales in the Solent, off Southampton"

"[they] had collected the boat from Porchester and were sailing it home. But 15 miles down the coast the 32ft Catamaran capsized"

"The boat's previous owner...'The people who bought the boat were experienced sailors but I'm not sure how much experience they had on catamarans'"


<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[kgi]

Doing away with lighthouse keepers didn't do us any favours either.........keith

<hr width=100% size=1>